Late Night Rescues
by Illusions of Insanity
Summary: He immediately stopped when he realized it was Annabeth, her face frantic and pale, her hands nervously twisting her baseball cap. "The Athena cabin is under attack," she told him, her voice weak and panicked. (Set in the summer after The Titan's Curse)


The nights were agonizing now. The camp was quiet, an impossible concept when it was filled with over fifty children of various ages, all with ADHD and dozens of activities. Cold winds blew off of the canoe lake, cutting straight through the loneliness within the Poseidon cabin, rustling the curtains and leaving them swaying gently.

Percy lay awake, staring at the ceiling and counting the seashells embedded in the ceiling. He lost count around fifty. His arm rested above his forehead, pressing against his skin and only serving to remind him of how unusually cold it was. His eyes stung with both the cold and exhaustion. He wished for nothing more than sleep at that moment, but sleep was hard to come by. Between the nightmares and the overall, suffocating feeling of danger, Percy didn't sleep much.

Such was the case when the world you knew seemed on the very brink of collapse and it may just end falling on your shoulders.

He tried to close his eyes, roll over and fall asleep. But he had tried that for several hours already and nothing was working. Not even the soothing lap of the lake touching the shore could soothe him. All he could do was squeeze his eyes shut, wish for a thicker blanket and try to sleep. There was a god of sleep, right? Could he give them a drachma under his pillow to bribe them to send a heavy cloud of sleep his way? Was that a thing? It was doubtful they would listen to him, anyway. He wasn't exactly popular with the Olympians at the moment.

Percy let his eyelids fall and just focused on breathing. Try to keep the constant busy action in his thoughts still. Don't think. Don't let the bad thoughts about Luke and what the future may hold enter. Just breathing. Breathing...

He started to feel himself drift off. He tried not to think about that, either. If he did, he risked jinxing himself and losing that precious chance of sleep. Instead he focused on nothing. Not the cold, not the sounds of the world around him. Just breathe in...and breathe out.

He must have finally found mercy and fell asleep at some point, because the next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake.

"Percy," a voice hissed. The boy tried desperately to hide from the shaking by pulling the blanket over his head and turning over on his stomach. The disembodied voice harassing him did not seem to like that, for suddenly his blanket was torn away. Percy followed the stolen blanket with a whine before opening his eyes.

His cabin was empty.

Percy slowly sat up a little taller, the corner of his vision still blurred and his mind groggy. He slowly looked around the room before staring off to his right. He could see his blanket draped over the edge of his bunk. He reached out to reclaim it, but suddenly a figure appeared in the corner of his vision.

"Gah!" Percy fumbled in his bed and tried to pull Riptide out of his pocket. His heart sank as he quickly realized that he left it in his _other_ pants, as his pajamas lacked pockets. Instead he improvised; Percy snatched his pillow and pulled it back over his head, preparing for a swing so he could use it as a distraction to retrieve his sword.

He immediately stopped when he realized it was Annabeth, her face frantic and pale, her hands nervously twisting her baseball cap. The single streak of white in her hair from the events of last winter glowed in the moonlight.

Percy lowered his deadly weapon of goose feathers and polyester. "...Annabeth," he asked warily, his throat rough and voice strained from both lack of sleep and lack of water. "What's wrong?"

"The Athena cabin is under attack," she told him, her voice weak and panicked. The hair on the back of Percy's neck rose. "The others sent me to beg you for help."

Percy jumped out of bed, grabbed his pants off the floor and recovered his precious pen from his back pocket. He then rushed to her side, his eyes steeled with determination. "Who is it? What's attacking?"

Annabeth shook her head in distress. "You'll see when you get there," she warned. "We can't waste time! Malcolm's already been bitten!"

Percy nearly jumped out of his skin. Bitten? Then, that had to be a monster of some kind! But, how had it gotten in camp? He bit his lip and grabbed her hand. He didn't have time to ask questions. He desperately hoped that whatever was loose in the Athena cabin wasn't poisonous. "Then lead the way!"

Annabeth was just about to pull him out of the cabin when she froze. She frantically turned her head back towards Percy. "The guard harpies," she hissed. "If they see you, they'll eat you alive!"

Percy gulped. He rather enjoyed avoiding being consumed. His time in the Sea of Monsters had provided a few too many close calls. His eyes darted around the room before they locked on to the sight of the canoe lake. "...I'll swim to your cabin," he said quickly. "A-And you can sneak back over with your hat!"

Annabeth looked as if she was about to argue before she carefully nodded. "O-Okay... Be careful," she warned. With shaking hands, she placed her cap back on her head and disappeared.

Percy watched the spot she had once stood for a few moments before quickly rushing outside and sneaking his way to the lake, quickly checking for any signs of harpies flying above his head. When the skies proved clear, he made a mad dash for the lake and dove in. He wasted no time with swimming, as much as he may enjoy it. Instead he used his powers to propel him through the water at astounding speeds.

He arrived at the Athena cabin in heartbeats. Breaching from the lake, he immediately could hear muted screams and cries of terror from within. His heart painfully pulsed in his chest. His socks trampled everything in his way before he reached the door of the cabin. There Annabeth stood, frozen in fear.

Percy drew his sword, the celestial bronze acting as the world's deadliest nightlight. With a face twisted in fury, he stood between Annabeth and the monster that lay within. "You woke up the _wrong_ demigod," he growled menacingly.

His rage quickly evaporated into surprise as he found the cabin painted with spiders.

Arachnids scuttled across the floor in unfathomable numbers, covering the floor in black and brown until the wooden floor was unable to be seen. Everything from bookshelves to worktables was alive with angry, spitting spiders that hunted about like wolves, cornering Athena children anywhere they could. A boy was hanging on the rafters, desperately clutching at the wooden beam with his hands and pulling his legs up to avoid the spiders a few feet below him. A few had caught on to his idea and started climbing over to the beam he was holding, essentially leaving him with no options of escape. Two girls were futilely trying to protect the armory side of the room, waving swords at the floor and stomping about as if the floor was on fire. The spiders weren't fazed. The majority of the kids were congregated in the bunks on the far wall, teaming up to defend their beds and most prized possessions. Malcolm sat on the bed, clutching his hand and trying not to wail with pain and fear.

Percy's eyes widened. He hadn't expected spiders. From what state Annabeth had arrived in, he had immediately assumed it to be some terrible monster. He quickly pushed it down. He knew better than most that Annabeth—and the other Athena kids—were mortified at the mere thought of spiders. They hated spiders. Spiders, all being descendants of Arachne, hated them. It was a mutual exchange of hate. How so many had managed to gather here, he had no idea.

He just knew that he was going to get them to leave.

Leave, being the key word in that thought. While he had been ready to jump to Annabeth's aid in the heat of the moment, he was still groggy and drained of all energy. If they were intelligent enough to plan and execute a full scale invasion, perhaps they would be intelligent enough to listen to an outside mediator and leave?

Hey, he could dream. Besides, the amount of energy needed to kill hundreds of spiders with a sword was astronomical.

Percy momentarilly lowered his sword. "...Hey, um... Spiders. Can we talk for a minute?"

Surprisingly, the entire room froze and turned to face him, demigods included. A chill ran down Percy's spine. The spiders moved as if a living wave. It was an uncomfortable image. Annabeth seemingly backed up behind him, as he could no longer feel her hat against his back. Thousands of eyes were now trained on his every move. Better make his words count.

"So uh...I'm Percy. I'm a son of Poseidon." At that, some of the spiders made a strange noise reminiscent of clicking and nails on a chalkboard. Percy resisted the urge to gag. Apparently, the idea of him being the son of a god who was often not on good terms with Athena was thrilling to them. "I woke up and heard you guys were in here. I understand that you both have a mutual hatred of each other," he said awkwardly, his hands raised defensively, though his sword was still in his right hand. "And that's cool. Really. But... could you maybe leave? It's late, everyone is tired... Surely you'd rather come and exact revenge for your mother during the day?"

The spiders seemed to think about that idea for a moment. They then slowly began gathering in the center of the room, leaving the poor tormented souls guarding the beds and armory for another day. The boy hanging from the ceiling nearly wept with joy.

Then the arachnids began building a large, singular pile of wiggling, hairy legs and pincers. Annabeth grabbed his shoulders and started pushing him forward like a human shield. "Th-They're attacking again," she hissed in his ears, her voice shrill. "Stop them!"

Percy's shoulders slumped. "Is that a no," he asked the spiders sarcastically. With a great sigh, he lifted his sword and examined it. As much as he favored Riptide, he'd never be able to effectively slaughter an army of spiders with it. He needed a better plan.

He felt his heart beating in his chest, constant like the tides. He thought of the lake. Water... Dang, he could use some about now...

Wait, could he use his powers to draw the water to him from here? His arms hurt thinking about that. Oh, that would take a lot of effort. Though, the alternatives were hardly an option. He took a deep breath and focused on the water in the canoe lake, envisioning it rising in a twist and pulling it towards the door.

"Annabeth," he warned. "Move away from the door."

"... _What_?"

"Trust me," he whispered. "I've got an idea."

He then stared at the spiders with a smile, hoping to stall as the effort pulled in his gut. "Fellas...and uh, ladies," he began, his smile morphing into a sheepish grin. "Can we stop and think about things for a moment? This seems like a lot of work for just a dozen kids or so. Why go through so much hassle?"

The spiders didn't stop, though they did slow for just a moment.

That was all he needed.

"Well, it's been fun, but I'm afraid that it's time that I give you all the boot," Percy said with a tired grin. Behind him, the tip of a funnel of lake water floated in air, waiting for his next move. Annabeth squeaked behind him and quickly moved to stand at his right, even though it meant coming closer to the spiders. With a great heave of his arms, the boy shoved the water passed him.

Dozens of gallons of water flew past him, kissing the floor just long enough to sweep up the collection of spiders and carry them away out a window overlooking the lake. The demigods all watched as the swarm of blues and greens engulfed every last black and brown arachnid body in the cabin and forced them all into the depths of the lake. Somehow, Percy managed to find the energy to smirk.

"Looks like the fish are getting a midnight snack," he said smugly as the last of the water churned out the window, leaving all of the worktables and their contents untouched. The cabin was absolutely spotless, looking just as it had before the unfortunate invasion. The Athena cabin examined the room with bated breath before slowly shifting into relieved, anxious smiles and tearful eyes.

"Percy!" Annabeth suddenly pulled him close in a hug, which Percy couldn't say he minded. He took the opportunity to let his knees buckle, letting his friend support his weight while he caught his breath. The other kids slowly left their corners, weapons still in hand. The boy in the rafters finally let go and was immediately caught by his two sisters who had been in the armory. Annabeth drew in a shaking breath and laughed lightly. "Thank you!"

"You did it, Percy!" The boy from the rafters smiled.

"I knew he could get rid of the spiders," another kid said with a grin. "If anyone can kill a spider, it's Percy Jackson!"

Ah, Percy Jackson the spider-slayer. He should add that to his demigod resume. That would be sure to scare off a few monsters.

Malcolm held his hand as if it were going to fall off. "Percy Jackson, you're the hero of the moment!"

Percy just smiled and tried to stand up. Once he found that to be easier than he expected, he stood proudly before them. His hands shook a bit from the effort he had given. "Thank you, thank you..." He glanced over them before then holding out a hand. "Well, do you have any thanks for your hero," he asked bravely.

The cheers in the room immediately died.

Malcolm stared. "...What?"

"It's past midnight. You woke me up, brought me here and made me kill probably like, thousands of spiders. Controlling water like that is exhausting. Furthermore, getting here is a risk in and of itself," he explained. "I had to avoid harpies that would have _eaten_ me had I been caught. I literally risked my life to come here."

The Athena cabin looked at each other nervously.

Percy sighed. "It's nothing personal," he soothed. "You know we're all buddies...but it's hard being a cabin of one. Remember cleaning day?" Percy definitely remembered cleaning day. Since he was the only occupant of the Poseidon cabin—and he wasn't very messy if he said so himself—he was always done first. That meant every other cabin would then attempt to bride him into helping them clean _their_ cabin, which usually meant he was stuck mopping. Just because he had water powers doesn't automatically mean he should be stuck with the scrubbing part.

"If word gets out that I helped you guys for free, _every cabin_ would start trying to get my help for free. I won't even ask for much," he insisted. "Just like...a can of coke. That's all I'll take."

Annabeth rejoined her siblings as they all started looking around the room. Malcolm walked back over to Percy within a few minutes, shaking his head sadly. "We uh...don't have any soda," he said.

Percy shrugged. "That's fine. What about a drachma?"

Another wave of murmured discussion followed. This time, one of the girls stepped forward. "We're fresh out of those. We gave our last one to the Stolls at capture the flag for a truce."

The boy shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay...I'll take five bucks?"

The Athena cabin started checking their pockets. "I'll take a _dollar_ ," Percy added. Eventually the boy with sandy hair who had been hanging from a rafter shook his head. "I don't even have a penny..."

The children exchanged nervous glances. Finally, the Athena kids stepped aside and gathered in a huddle, talking in muted tones among each themselves. Percy just stood and watched, carefully looking around the room. He glanced down at his feet to find a lone spider, slightly smaller than the ones he had thrown in the lake, trying to attack his sock. He just stabbed it with Riptide and hid it behind his back.

Eventually, they broke apart and walked back towards him, smiles on their faces. Malcolm walked forward with Annabeth at his side. "We at the Athena cabin have thought long and hard about your demands. We're truly indebted to your heroism, Percy."

"Uh...huh."

Malcolm placed his good hand under his chin and nodded as if he was an artist examining his work being carried into the most prestigious gallery in the country. "Therefore, we've collectively agreed that you deserve nothing less than a heroic reward. Does that sound good?"

Percy smiled a little bit. A heroic reward? He quite liked the sound of that. "Sounds great. So...what is it? A laurel? A _magic_ laurel?"

Malcolm smirked but shook his head. "Oh no," he said dramatically. "A laurel simply wouldn't be enough. No, this is a reward that only the _best_ demigod heroes achieve!" He then pushed Annabeth forward while the other Athena kids behind him snickered.

Annabeth gave Percy a smile of her own before abruptly pecking the boy on the cheek. "A kiss from a fair maiden," the other Athena kids laughed.

Percy felt his face warm as he narrowed his eyes in pure bafflement. He absently touched his cheek and felt his skin burn beneath his fingers. He should have expected them to try something clever like that. Most people thought only children of Hermes would think of such things, but they were sadly mistaken. Never underestimate the wit of a child of Athena under pressure.

Percy shook his head. "...You know what, I'm too tired for this," he said with a pout, his face still bright red. "I'll take that as payment...b-but just this once! Next time, I expect like, a full six pack of coke! No more tricks."

Annabeth laughed and gave him a one-armed hug. "Okay, Seaweed Brain." She pulled away and twisted her hat in her hands. "But we really are thankful." She extended her cap to him. "You can use my cap to get back to your cabin," she offered.

Percy gently shook his head. "Thanks, Annabeth... But I'd rather swim back. If anyone sees me with it tomorrow, we'll all be busted."

Annabeth reluctantly nodded and stepped back. "Okay Percy..."

"Goodnight, Percy," Malcolm said, his hand cradled once again. A few of his siblings apparently had retrieved a special first aid kit reserved for spider related injuries.

"Goodnight, Percy," Annabeth told him softly.

"...Yeah, goodnight, Annabeth," Percy said, his face still uncomfortably warm. He took extra care in walking backwards so they wouldn't see the spider carcass on his sword's tip. He checked the skies before making a break for it, moving quickly back to the water of the canoe lake.

When he reached the shore, he almost paused to take in the breathtaking sight of seemingly every fish in the entire lake swimming and churning over each other, feasting on the spiders that were floating about. One fish broke off from the crowd and approached Percy, their eyes fixated on the spider on his sword.

 _Uh...hello, fish,_ Percy thought, staring into their eyes. _I see you're enjoying the spiders I threw in._ He paused to look at the spider on his sword. His sword was a little too bright. He needed to turn it back into a pen before a harpy noticed that the lake was glowing orange near the Athena cabin. He shook Riptide until the spider's body slipped off and floated away from him. _Uh, go ahead and eat them. Take the spiders as a gift from Percy Jackson...that's me._

The fish immediately took the spider in his jaws and slipped back into the swarming bodies. Percy turned to swim away when suddenly the fish swam above his head, effectively blocking him from being seen from above. Percy blinked in awe before smiling faintly.

 _Thank you,_ he thought. _I'm just swimming to my cabin. You don't all have to follow me..._ He then swam calmly to his cabin, the fish happily following him there.

Percy easily climbed out of the lake and quickly walked inside his cabin. He glanced over his shoulder to find the fish watching him intently. The boy rubbed his cold hands before giving them a wave. They then slipped away, hopefully going back to whatever they do at night. Riptide retracted back into a pen. The son of Poseidon tucked it safely back in the pair of jeans on the floor and crawled back into bed.

The rescue mission must have been just what his insomnia needed. The moment Percy pulled the blanket to his neck, he fell asleep.

α

"Uh...Percy? Why are you talking to those fish?"

Percy glanced over his shoulder to find Annabeth behind him. She had her hair pulled back that morning. She had her hand on her hip and an eyebrow raised. Looking at her, you would have never guessed that just last night she and her entire cabin had been trying to destroy hundreds of spiders.

Percy just gave her a smile. "They like me," he told her simply. "Apparently, they think I'm _Lord Percy Jackson_. They loved those snacks last night."

Annabeth shuddered at the thought of what they had eaten. "...And you can hear what they're saying?"

"Oh yeah," he said with a grin. Abruptly he turned and stared at a bigger fish that had swam up. He stared at them for a few moments before laughing.

Annabeth craned her neck forward. "What did they say," she asked, the curiosity burning in her voice.

Percy smirked and waved casually. "Oh, he just said that he thinks you're the prettiest demigod he's ever seen."

Percy could have sworn that she blushed.

"...He's a fish." She said it as if it proved everything.

Percy shrugged. "He doesn't care." He carefully picked the fish, manipulating the water to give the fish a protective bubble he could breathe in. "In fact, he says he'd _love_ to kiss you," he teased.

Annabeth's face paled and she instantly recoiled. "Don't. You. Dare," she told him softly.

Percy didn't listen. Instead he stalked forward with the fish in his hands. "Oh come on, Annabeth. He's a very nice fish. Don't break his heart like that."

"Percy, no!" She ran away though she was clearly laughing through her shrieks. Percy just smiled, laughed and chased after her, carrying the fish in his hands and holding him outwards towards her.

"It's a reward fit for the finest of heroes," Percy shouted after her, laughing the entire time. The Athena cabin watched them run past with confusion before bursting into laughter. Malcolm seemed to shout something after them, but Percy couldn't hear. All he heard was Annabeth's laughter.

The world may fall apart, but in that moment, they chose to let that wait and have fun.

* * *

 _Author's Note: This is just a cute little Percabeth fic I've had planned for a long time. I recently decided to go ahead and write it. It can be taken with canon and I'd say it takes place the summer after the events of The Titan's Curse, so about between books three and four._


End file.
